Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Report: Kansas to cease allowing motorists to have 'duplicate' personalized plates. Wait, wha?]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/31/report-kansas-to-cease-allowing-motorists-to-have-duplicate-p/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/31/report-kansas-to-cease-allowing-motorists-to-have-duplicate-p/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/31/report-kansas-to-cease-allowing-motorists-to-have-duplicate-p/#commentsFiled under: ,



Kansas is revamping the way it issues vanity plates, and it means a lot of residents are going to lose their 'duplicate' personalized plates. They're not really duplicates, though: Unlike most states, Kansas allows people in different counties to have the same alphanumeric combination, so while the tags might appear to be copies, they are registered in different counties and that technically makes them different plates.

According to Kansas.com, the problem with that strategy is that law enforcement officials in hot pursuit have a hard time reading which county a car's "JAYHAWK" plate is registered to, so they have been behind the push to change the policy. The Kansas DMV is in the process of figuring out who registered each of these 'duplicate' plates first, and then it plans to send letters to anyone else with that same alphanumeric combo to let them know they can't renew it.

Just as novel as finding out Kansas allowed multiple copies of a tag in the same state was the list of the top ten vanity plates chosen. It's arguably embarrassing that the number one plate is "HUSKERS," which amounts to cheerleading for a team in another state, like "SOONERS" in the seven spot. The home team, "JAYHAWK" comes in second, followed by Larry the Cable Guy's slogan, "GITRDUN," which is more popular than the Kansas City "CHIEFS" in number four. Ah, Kansas, what are we going to do with you? Hat tip to Dude!

[Source: Kansas.com | Image: Robinrkc - C.C. License 2.0]


Report: Kansas to cease allowing motorists to have 'duplicate' personalized plates. Wait, wha? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dmvkansaslicenselicense plateslicense platsLicensePlatesLicensePlatspersonalized platesPersonalizedPlatestagsvanity platesVanityPlatesThu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19299177/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/12/31/report-kansas-to-cease-allowing-motorists-to-have-duplicate-p/19299177/article-detail.xml 19299177 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/kansas_vanity_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/kansas_vanity.jpg <![CDATA[We say BMW, you say...]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/19/we-say-bmw-you-say/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/19/we-say-bmw-you-say/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/19/we-say-bmw-you-say/#commentsFiled under: , ,

So here we have the kind of real-time social engagement that the Internet originally promised us. A site called Brandtag allows you to enter a 1-word attribute for a brand -- like "quattro" for Audi -- and then creates a page with the popularity of any brand identifier denoted by its size on the page relative to every other tag used, i.e. a tag cloud. For instance, one of the biggest words on the Ferrari page is "red," while one of the (many) smallest words is "viagra."

Generic descriptors seem to take the biggest places for all of the brands (browse them here) and some of the small words make you wonder -- like "pirate" for BMW. Yet there are some other intriguing middle-sized words that could make you ask, "Is that what more than one person thinks when they see me?" BMW owners should take note that many people apparently see you all as a-holes (NSFW-ish), though take heart that no brand is sacred from this swarm attack. Thanks for the tip, Alex!

[Source: Brandtags]

We say BMW, you say... originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 May 2008 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>brandbrand tagbrandsbrandtagbrandtagsinternettagsMon, 19 May 2008 14:56:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1199663/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/05/19/we-say-bmw-you-say/1199663/article-detail.xml 1199663 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/05/bmw----brand-tags-(20080519)_opt_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/05/bmw----brand-tags-(20080519)_opt.jpg <![CDATA[Cambridge engineers develop "talking" Fiat]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/02/cambridge-engineers-develop-talking-fiat/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/02/cambridge-engineers-develop-talking-fiat/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/02/cambridge-engineers-develop-talking-fiat/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Who would have thought that Pixar would turn out to be a prophet of the automotive industry? In creating its talking automobiles for the computer-animated film Cars, the Disney-associated studio might have done just that, as a group of engineering students in England have demonstrated.

The team at Cambridge developed a "talking" car of their own. Based on a Fiat Stilo, the prototype is capable of telling mechanics what's working and what's not. By transmitting radio signal tags, engine components can inform workshop staff of the working condition of specific parts, as well as identifying parts that haven't received recall work yet and what parts are worth salvaging should the car be heading for the scrap yard.

According to Prof. Duncan McFarlane, the team is discussing selling the technology to "a number of firms", and we hope that the feature gets adopted fast. This is one piece of tech that really speaks to us.

[Source: Auto Express]

Cambridge engineers develop "talking" Fiat originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cambridgefiatmaintenancepartsradiostilotagstalkingMon, 02 Jul 2007 21:56:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/931224/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2007/07/02/cambridge-engineers-develop-talking-fiat/931224/article-detail.xml 931224 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/07/luigi_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/07/luigi.jpg -1 2